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[[image]] [[caption]] Rev. W. Eugene Houston President [[/caption]] AMERICAN TENNIS ASSOCIATION, INC. 64th Annual Nat'l Championship August 11-16 1980 South Fulton County Tennis Center and Dwight White Park Atlanta, Georgia A.T.A. History The American Tennis Association was organized on November 30, 1916 at a meeting held in the Y.M.C.A. in Washington, D.C. Prior to the organization of the A.T.A., it had been the custom for players from Baltimore, Washington, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and the New England States to participate in invitational and interstate tournaments. The first of these tournaments was held in 1898 in Philadelphia under the auspices of the Chautauqua Tennis Club. On November 1, 1916 a letter was sent to all of the Negro Tennis Clubs known to be functioning throughout the United States, inviting them to send representatives to a meeting to be held in Washington, D.C. on November 30, 1916. Thus, the American Tennis Association came into being. In August 1917, the first National Championship Tournament was held at Druid Hill Park in Baltimore, Md., with Monumental Tennis Club acting as host. There were only three events: Men's Singles, won by Tally Holmes; Women's Singles, won by Miss Lucy Slowe; and Men's Doubles, won by Tally Holmes and Sylvester Smith. Clubs began springing up around the country, many conducting their own tournaments. This gave rise to an A.T.A circuit leading up to the National Championships. Prior to 1940, American blacks were denied the opportunity to participate in tournaments sanctioned by the United States Lawn Tennis Association. The United States Lawn Tennis Association's barrier was broken in 1950. Early that year, Dr. Sylvester B. Smith, President of the A.T.A., Arthur E. Francis, Assistant Executive Secretary, and Bertram L. Baker, Executive Secretary held a series of conferences with Dr. S. Ellsworth Davenport Jr. and Mr. Alrick H. Man, Jr. representing the U.S.L.T.A. They had in mind the acceptance of qualified Negro players in U.S.L.T.A. tournaments. Althea Gibson's entry was accepted for the National Clay Court Championships, the Eastern Grass Court Championships and the National Championships at Forest Hills. And so in 1950, for the first time a Negro American tennis player participated in the National Championships conducted under the auspices of the United States Lawn Tennis Association. The following year, 1951, Miss Gibson's entry was accepted for the World's Championship tournament at Wimbledon, England. In 1957, she won the Wimbledon tournament and was proclaimed the world's greatest tennis player. That same year, she won the U.S.L.T.A. National Championship at Forest Hills. The A.T.A. has no permanent place for the holding of its Championship Tournaments. With but few exceptions, these tournaments have been held on the campuses of various black colleges throughout the United States. This policy had the advantage of bringing the organization, its players and program, directly into various sections of the U.S. and particularly to the educational institutions. Thus, many men and women who today are making it in the professions, in business and other walks of life, can well look back to some helpful word or direct act as a result of contact made through their affiliation with the A.T.A. Arthur Ashe, a product of the Junior Development Committee of the A.T.A., under the Chairmanship of Dr. R. Walter Johnson, has played in the U.S.L.T.A. tournaments ever since he was in the boy's class. He has represented the United States in tournaments all over the world and in 1967 won the Men's Singles Championship at Forest Hills and the coveted Wimbledon all-England Championships in 1972. If it were not for the denial of equal opportunity in the past, the A.T.A. could have been the springboard for many other world-class players. Players such as Jimmy McDaniels, George Stewart, Dr. Reginald Weir, Wilbert Davis, Ora Washington, Flora Lomax and Bonnie Logan, to name a few, all had the potential from which champions are made. We are now in the second half century of the life of the A.T.A. America and the rest of the world are faced with new ideas and problems which challenge the best that is in all of us. Tennis is now considered a career opportunity, and the increasing level of competition requires a new approach to the development process. With men and women of every race, who believe in the motto inscribed on the emblem of the A.T.A.: "SPORTSMANSHIP-UNITY-GOODWILL," we accept the challenge. [[box]] The biennial election of officers will take place at the annual meeting on Wednesday. The Rev. W. Eugene Houston, Ph.D., D.D. is completing his first two year term as President. Mr. Royal L. Sims is Executive Secretary. Thirty-seven weekend tournaments will be sanctioned, from San Diego, California, to Miami, Florida, to Boston, Massachusetts. The New England Association's four-day tournament over the Fourth of July will be one of the big events as will the Mid-Western Tourney over the same period. EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE, A.T.A. Rev. W. Eugene Houston, Ph.D., D.D., President Virginia Glass, 1st Vice President Dr. John A. Watson, 2nd Vice President Royal L. Sims, Executive Secretary Barbara Johnson, Assistant Executive Secretary Clifford Blackman, Treasurer Margaret H. Gordon, Secretary Sally Elam, Assistant Secretary Juanita Archer Nehemiah Atkinson Ollen A. Dupree, Jr. [[/box]] 246
